Routt County DA receives shooting reports

Charges, timing depend on alleged Iris Lane shooter’s recovery

Steamboat Springs  Police have turned over several hundred pages of reports about the June 11 shooting of Robert Cash and his wife, Rhonda, to the Routt County District Attorney’s Office, but how the case proceeds depends on the medical condition of the alleged shooter.

Steamboat Springs police say Robert Cash shot his wife in the back of the neck early June 11 at the estranged couple’s home on Iris Lane in west Steamboat. Hours later, he reportedly shot himself in the chest.

Medical crews took both Cashes to Yampa Valley Med­ical Center. Both then were flown to St. Anthony Central Hospital in Denver.

Robert Cash’s brother-in-law, Peter Remy, said Monday that Robert Cash is still in the intensive care unit in “very serious condition.”

“The only change that has happened to his coma is that he has opened his eyes, but as far as his prognosis, with being able to be taken off life support system, the doctors have given us no date or hope as to what will happen in the future,” Remy said.

Remy said the coma is not medically induced, as has previously been reported by police.

Police said last week that Rhonda Cash was making progress in her recovery and was able to walk short distances after the bullet was removed from her spine. A condition update was not available Monday.

The District Attorney’s Office is expected to decide on charges in the case after it reviews the investigation report.

Deputy District Attorney Rusty Prindle said he got the report from the Steamboat Springs Police Department on Friday and was spending Monday reading the lengthy document. Detective Nick Bosick is in charge of the investigation, and each officer involved also wrote a report.

“I would say it’s very thorough,” Prindle said.

He said a copy of the report also was sent to District Attorney Elizabeth Oldham for review.

“A lot of what we do and when we proceed with charges, one of the factors is going to be his condition, of course,” Prindle said.

Prindle said police have had some difficulty getting updates about Robert Cash’s condition because of medical privacy laws and requests by the family that the hospital not release any additional information.

Prindle said he is not sure when charges will be filed, but it will not be in the next several days.

If they file charges then presumably he would get a public defender whose first action would be to request a delay until his client was released from the hospital. So not much reason to file charges right now.